2020 Volume 71 Issue 3 Pages 163-181
Among the birthday presents for eight people living in hiding, as written about in The Diary of Anne Frank –The critical edition–, food was investigated. Eleven out of sixteen diary articles were found during their life in hiding. The residents and their associates enjoyed lunch parties in the early period. Particularly in the middle and later period, the birthday gifts consisted of food like canned products, which were able to be stored for a long period of time, and ration coupons for food. On the contrary, gifts of sweets, which were normally popular birthday gifts, decreased. As for non-food gifts, daily necessities were given during the later period. Although it was difficult to obtain goods during wartime, the residents and associates made efforts to obtain birthday gifts from the black market, and held small parties. The birthday celebrations were a source of relief in the confined space of their hiding place.
